Morlem Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 Hi there, The question is the following, I have my C# application almost developed, but I want it to be skinned some ways. Is there anything I can use to do this. TIA Quote
fadi Posted October 20, 2003 Posted October 20, 2003 can u explain more ur problem, i didnt understand Quote
Morlem Posted October 20, 2003 Author Posted October 20, 2003 Probably some Activex would be the best, but the ones I know do nothing for .NET... here I mean ActiveSkin and DirectSkin... Can you suggest me anything else? Quote
Morlem Posted October 22, 2003 Author Posted October 22, 2003 Hopefully this one will work Well, I guess, I have found the control to skin a .NET applications!!!:cool: Once more I made sure the Google is power :D !!! The control is called SkinCrafter, at their site http://skincrafter.com they are saying that it works for WindowsForms... their demo really does... If anyone has been working with it, please, your appraisal would come in handy :) Quote
quahog Posted October 22, 2003 Posted October 22, 2003 (edited) I have done skins but I use a normal graphic editor. I can't give your a critique on the quality of the Skin editor tools other than paintshop pro/paint/etc... It sounds like you may need to know how to create a skin? (If not just ignore this posting). A skin is a graphic with one color that does not display, such as the arrow on the mouse pointer. Do the following: (1) Create you the graphic that you would like to use as a skin. The outside of your skin is a single common color such white. Whatever color you choose will not be displayed when you display the form so make sure the color is not on a part of the skin that you want displayed. (2) Select the color that you choose not to display from the palette in your form Transparency Key attribute. (3) Form attribute: form borderstyle change to none (4) Form attribute: maximize box change to false (5) select your graphic as a background image. If the color in your image that your want to NOT display, matches the color that you selected as a Transparency Key than you have your skin. Edited October 22, 2003 by quahog Quote when the day is bad and life's a curse, cheer up tomorrow may be worse.
Morlem Posted October 23, 2003 Author Posted October 23, 2003 how about more skins? (1) Create you the graphic that you would like to use as a skin. The outside of your skin is a single common color such white. Whatever color you choose will not be displayed when you display the form so make sure the color is not on a part of the skin that you want displayed. (2) Select the color that you choose not to display from the palette in your form Transparency Key attribute. (3) Form attribute: form borderstyle change to none (4) Form attribute: maximize box change to false (5) select your graphic as a background image. If the color in your image that your want to NOT display, matches the color that you selected as a Transparency Key than you have your skin. Thanx a lot for explanation, but still have more questions - How can I do more then one skin this way? - And also I found that skincrafter can make different window shapes, depending on the skins... is it also easy to implement? Best regards Quote
quahog Posted October 23, 2003 Posted October 23, 2003 Morlem - How can I do more then one skin this way? Yes. I put the following VB code in the on_click event of a button. (I don't know C# but I think you will be able to make the change.) Me.BackgroundImage = Image.FromFile("C:\pictures\matrix.bmp", True) You could fire this code off from a listbox of file names or a few check boxes or a dialog window. - And also I found that skincrafter can make different window shapes, depending on the skins... is it also easy to implement? +++++ It sounds like all you have to do is follow the steps I provided previously and you should be all set. From what little I have seen of skincrafter, it looks like a good tool to generate skins. Good Luck, Quahog Quote when the day is bad and life's a curse, cheer up tomorrow may be worse.
Morlem Posted October 25, 2003 Author Posted October 25, 2003 Thank you... Thanks a lot for your suggestions! I'll try to use them when developing my next project, I hope I would have a time for implementing and debugging my own skin engine. But, as deadline is nearby, I'd use a skincrafter now, I also found it to be a good tool. Best Regards PS: If there is any samples with your method, it'd be very nice :cool: Quote
*Experts* mutant Posted October 25, 2003 *Experts* Posted October 25, 2003 I would recommend using Regions for forms that are not rectangluar. If you need an example just say :) Quote
Morlem Posted October 29, 2003 Author Posted October 29, 2003 Yes, please, an example of not rectangular window (something like in skincrafter demos) would be high appreciated. TIA Quote
AndreRyan Posted October 29, 2003 Posted October 29, 2003 This code will show a circular form: Dim Pth as Drawing2D.GraphicsPath = New Drawing2D.GraphicsPath() Pth.AddEllipse(0, 0, 200, 200) Me.Region = New Region(Pth) Drawing2D.GraphicsPath Pth = new Drawing2D.GraphicsPath(); Pth.AddEllipse(0, 0, 200, 200); this.Region = new Region(Pth); The easier method is: 1) Set Form's BackgroundImage 2) Set Form's TransparencyKey to whatever color is ment to be transparent The form will now shape itself to the picture Quote .Net allows software to be written for any version of Windows and not break like Unmanaged applications unless using Unmanaged procedures like APIs. If your program uses large amounts of memory but releases it when something else needs it, then what's the problem?
Morlem Posted October 31, 2003 Author Posted October 31, 2003 Thanks, Hope I'll have a time for my own skins development... If so I''l inform you about results :) Best Regards Quote
Morlem Posted November 17, 2003 Author Posted November 17, 2003 Interesting article Hi Folks, I have found this google article to be quite interesting to the theme of skinning. http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=%2373JgT%23kDHA.1096%40TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl&rnum=7&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dskinmagic%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D%252373JgT%2523kDHA.1096%2540TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl%26rnum%3D7 Sorry for such a lenght, but that's a google ;) Quote
shyb Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 DirectSkin can SKIN .NET APPLICATIONS The http://www.stardock.com/products/directskin/ DirectSkin solution is working with .NET WindowsForms... I try stuff with it and it went well... they still dont support all the controls but almost all of them... i talk to them last week and they sent me a .NET application sample....which was working fine. the graphic capabilities are coool ! and the skin editor is JUST PRO (SkinStudio4)... BUT ! I really want to read a honest review about this product! (someone?!).. CHECK IT OUT. (IM LOOKING 4 A SKIN SOLUTION TO A C# .NET APP...THE SKINCRAFTER IS WORKING WELL BUT THE RESAULTS IS KINDA :( AND THE SKIN EDITOR IS BAD:(........) Quote
Arch4ngel Posted March 31, 2004 Posted March 31, 2004 Watch out for the Transparancy trick. It use Layers so OS that don't support layers (like every windows before Win2k) there will be some glitch. And I saw a LOT of people experiencing problem with this method (not on implanting it but on running it). Another thing is that Region is much more reliable. It'll probably work on every platform that run .NET (didn't have any complain right now) Quote "If someone say : "Die mortal !"... don't stay to see if he isn't." - Unknown "Learning to program is like going out with a new girl friend. There's always something that wasn't mentioned in the documentation..." - Me "A drunk girl is like an animal... it scream at everything like a cat and roll in the grass like a dog." - Me after seeing my girlfriend drunk and some of her drunk friend. C# TO VB TRANSLATOR
Morlem Posted April 1, 2004 Author Posted April 1, 2004 But the price!!! (IM LOOKING 4 A SKIN SOLUTION TO A C# .NET APP...THE SKINCRAFTER IS WORKING WELL BUT THE RESAULTS IS KINDA :( AND THE SKIN EDITOR IS BAD:(........) Actually SkinCrafter is kinda young product (their first release was on last Aug) but, IMHO, they offer a good skining service and for really lower prise - $299 for unlimited one developer licence comparatively to $999 for StrarDock Basic licence with "up to 1,000 units of your product to be distributed" :confused: Actually, I like SkinCrafter for their often upgrades releases and good job of their support team. Regards, Quote
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